My brothers,
As I was with the Deluxe Reverb, I am looking at a Silverface Vibrolux Reverb in great shape. Has original OT's, choke, speakers, and was just serviced. The question is, has anyone ever played a vibrolux and what are the thoughts? I'm toying with picking up another Twin, but eff me they are heavy and I don't need 100watts. Also, I've never played 2x10, is that a limiting factor? He is asking for $1400 obo and I'm wondering what a fair offer would be? How much would a sf vibrolux typically go for....here is the amp in question:
(http://imgc.classistatic.com/cps/kjc/111212/174r1/8146k09_20.jpeg)
Quote from: ColForbin on December 14, 2011, 11:10:38 AM
My brothers,
As I was with the Deluxe Reverb, I am looking at a Silverface Vibrolux Reverb in great shape. Has original OT's, choke, speakers, and was just serviced. The question is, has anyone ever played a vibrolux and what are the thoughts? I'm toying with picking up another Twin, but eff me they are heavy and I don't need 100watts. Also, I've never played 2x10, is that a limiting factor? He is asking for $1400 obo and I'm wondering what a fair offer would be? How much would a sf vibrolux typically go for....here is the amp in question:
(http://imgc.classistatic.com/cps/kjc/111212/174r1/8146k09_20.jpeg)
A beautiful amp indeed!
As with many silverfaces, the earlier the better in my honest opinion and others as well. I like 2x10, they gave my sound "more--punch" so-to-say. Tonewise, it's one of the best amps I played through, and it ate pedals. 40 watts is loud enough for a lot of musical situations too.
As far as money goes, I'd offer him $1100, sell your Twin, and get a tweed champ or something for home practice!
Thanks man, that's definitely food for thought.
Looks sweet. Yeah talk him down a bit if you can. Also there are modifications that you can do to get this puppy into blackface territory, if you want to do that down the road. The Weber book I read had all those little mods and tricks in it. I played 2 x 10 for years and it was fine but just think of which speakers you might not be able to get for 10's versus the spectrum of 12's out there.
This is a really nice amp. I would not touch a thing except for basic maintenance. $1100 would seem fair. Weber has a full spectrum of 10s available if you must change them. Just hold on to the originals in case you resell the amp.
I would buy this and just play it as is. These have thier own vibe too them.
I have been doing a bunch of research on old Fenders and been tossing between a Pro and Vibrolux Reverb.
It sounds like the Vibrolux is known to break up earlier at lower volumes, so if you are looking for sweet tube distortion you will probably be really happy with it. I would try to find out what year this Vibro was made and do some research on it. At some point in the 70s the circuitry was changed, and the earlier ones were more desirable.
The Twin of course has more clean headroom at 80watts. Has a reputation as one of the best clean platforms out there. But many claim it's too heavy and loud for your typical bar gigging musician. I have a Twin that was split into a head making the weight more manageable. And it is loud. It really hits it's sweet spot at around 7....which is about the max my ears can handle. Personally I really like how the Twin sounds even played down at 3.
Added- this is some really good info:
http://fenderguru.com/amps/vibrolux
I ended up buying a '70 Silverface Vibrolux and I absolutely love the tones this thing produces.
I ended up going in a different direction, dude hasn't sold this yet and if I'm not mistaken has dropped his price. I'm hearing a lot of good things about it though.
Quote from: ColForbin on January 20, 2012, 07:55:31 AM
I ended up going in a different direction, dude hasn't sold this yet and if I'm not mistaken has dropped his price. I'm hearing a lot of good things about it though.
What'd ya get!?
I don't officially have it in my possession yet, but I got a great deal on a Dr. Z EZG50 that sounds great. Exactly what I'm looking for, for my HT cab. 50 watts of tone, the marketing calls it "the blackface head that never was, " so take that for what it's worth. I'm about $250.00 away from it being mine, so I'm pretty stoked.